On Wednesday, Feb. 23 from noon to 1:30 p.m. there will be a brown bag lunch at the Old Whaling Church entitled An Arts and Cultural Collaborative for Martha’s Vineyard: Lessons from Cape Cod.

The title of the talk sounds intriguing in a friendly neighbor sort of way. Hey, let’s see what’s up on Cape Cod.

But in truth the event is an important milestone for the Island because it is the inaugural meeting of the Martha’s Vineyard Arts and Culture Collaborative.

This newly formed organization aims to increase awareness of Martha’s Vineyard as a year-round, arts-rich community and to stimulate related economic development. It also plans to nurture, coordinate and leverage resources and opportunities for the arts and cultural community as well as support arts education in schools and in the community at large.

It certainly sounds like an organization whose time has come. One of those creations you scratch your head and think, why hasn’t something like this been around for years. Well, now it is here, first proposed in the Island Plan and then discussed last October by more than thirty representatives of the Vineyard’s arts and cultural community.

Some of the participating organizations in the initial efforts of the collaborative are ACE MV, Artfarm, Featherstone Center for the Arts, Island Community Chorus, Island Theatre Workshop, Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society, Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce, Martha’s Vineyard Commission, Martha’s Vineyard Donors Collaborative, Martha’s Vineyard Independent Film Festival, Martha’s Vineyard Museum, MVOL, Oak Bluffs Arts District, Tickets MV, Troubled Shores (IMP) and Vineyard Voice.

Last week, the Collaborative was awarded a $5,000 Adams Arts Program Planning Grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to help it move ahead with the planning process. The Permanent Endowment of Martha’s Vineyard has added $1,250 in matching funds and the MVC is fiscal agent.

For more information on the collaborative visit marthasvineyardarts.org or call 508-693-1850.

Better yet, attend the meeting on Wednesday.